Dexter: Cast & Creators Live at the Paley Center

Cast members of Dexter tell if the bloody murder scenes make them “freak out” and why the Moral Majority ignores the show.This William S. Paley Television Festival live event honors Dexter, a crime-thriller series based on Jeff Lindsay’s novels about Dexter Morgan, a forensics expert for the Miami-Dade Police who also happens to be a serial killer who targets criminals that the police can’t bring to justice. Christy Carpenter (executive vice president and COO, The Paley Center for Media) opens the evening by discussing the significance of the Paley Festival. Then, William C. Paley, son of the festival’s namesake, takes the stage to offer his welcome.Kristin Veitch (reporter, E! Entertainment) moderates the following panelists: executive producer/writer Daniel Cerone; executive producers Clyde Phillips and Sara Colleton; and cast members David Zayas (Angel Batista), Lauren Velez (Lt. Maria LaGuerta), James Remar (Harry Morgan), Erik King (Sgt. James Doakes), Jennifer Carpenter (Debra Morgan), and Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan).The panelists touch on such topics as: how the series was adapted from the Lindsay novels; how the producers got interested in casting Hall as Dexter; and whether Jennifer Carpenter, like her character, has a “potty mouth” in real life.Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics: if the cast members have read the Dexter books; shielding child actors on such a dark program; and why the Moral Majority apparently ignored the show.